COVID-19: Weather looming over pandemic response in states hit hard by outbreak
Two tropical storms are expected to strike the Gulf Coast in rapid succession this week, compounding public health concerns in states fighting to keep new coronavirus cases down after a surge of infections earlier in the summer.
The most recent forecast by the National Hurricane Center showed the storms, Marco and Laura, headed for coastal Louisiana and eastern Texas and expected to make landfall on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. Louisiana could face an unprecedented one-two punch, with both storms potentially hitting the state as hurricanes in a three-day span.
Louisiana officials urged residents to include masks, sanitizer and other protective gear in their emergency kits and to shelter only with immediate household members if possible.
“It should not be lost on any Louisianian that in addition to twin tropical weather threats, we still have to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gov. John Bel Edwards, who requested a federal emergency declaration from the White House on Saturday. “COVID-19 does not become less of a threat because of tropical weather.”
As Gov. Greg Abbott issued a state disaster declaration, he told reporters on Sunday that the Texas military division was preparing to operate mobile coronavirus testing squads, sheltering teams and disinfection teams.
States in the tropical storms’ paths experienced sharp spikes in coronavirus cases when a wave of infections swept over the South and the West. In Louisiana, infections peaked at more than 3,000 per day in late July and early August, straining the state’s hospital system and prompting Edwards to institute a statewide mask mandate.
Louisiana has since reported progress against the virus, with seven-day averages for new daily cases falling by 29 percent over the past week, according to the Post’s data. But officials cautioned that the outbreak could reverse course if people abandon health measures as they bunker down for the storms.
“We don’t want to lose what we’ve gained,” Jefferson Parish
President Cynthia Lee Sheng said at a news conference Saturday, as reported by the New Orleans Advocate.
Cases also surged in Mississippi last month and are trending upward again after dipping in the first half of August, according to The Post’s tracking.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency over the weekend and warned residents that shelter capacity would be limited because of the state’s outbreak.
He urged people to seek out nonpublic spaces if they needed to evacuate.
“What we can’t have happen is, if this thing is to strengthen on Sunday or Monday, to have a mad rush of people to our sheltering space,” Reeves said.